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The boys 4x400M relay team, which placed 11th at the state meet. Left to right: Ethan Kirchgatter, Skylar Blunt, Braden Powers and Dayton Smith. EJ Photo/ Mike Byrnes
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rThe St. Ansgar boys’ track team qualified for the state track meet in nine events. Seven boys participated in those events. Individual state meet qualifiers included: Theo Baldus (shot put and discus), Ethan Kirchgatter (200 and 400 meter dash, high jump), Seth Hershey (800 and 1600 meter runs), Skylar Blunt (400 meter dash), and Collin Kramer (110 meter hurdles). The boys had one relay team down at the state meet, the 4×400 meter relay team. Members of the 4×4 are Dayton Smith, Braden Powers, Skylar Blunt and Ethan Kirchgatter.r
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Seth Hershey had a busy day for the Saints on Saturday at the state meet. He ran in the 800 meter run, finishing in 13th place (2:02.07) and in the 1600 meter run, coming in 23rd place (4:55.93). EJ Photo/ Mike Byrnes
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rEthan Kirchgatter was the first member of the boys team to compete at the state meet. He ran in the 200 meter dash at 11:00 AM on Thursday. Kirchgatter came in 5th place (13th overall in prelims) in his heat and ran a time of 23.79 seconds.
Theo Baldus was up next in the shot put for the St. Ansgar boys on Thursday. Baldus just made the cut to get into the finals and would end up finishing in 8th place with his best throw of 49’00.50”. Baldus would go on to compete in the discus on Friday. Baldus entered the meet with the second best throw, and a St. Ansgar record of 170’. He ended the day on Friday finishing in 7th place with his best throw of 141’11”.r
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Theo Baldus tosses the shot put for his best throw of 49’00.5” for 8th place on Thursday at the state track meet at the Drake Stadium in Des Moines. EJ Photo/ Colby Fossey
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r“Theo wrapped up a stellar career as a thrower with two more state medals,” said head boys coach Drew Clevenger. “St. Ansgar has a great throwing tradition and he ranks among the finest that we have had.”
Kirchgatter and Skylar Blunt both ran in the 400 meter dash on Thursday. Blunt ran in heat one and crossed the finish line first with the fastest time in his heat (52.41). Kirchgatter ran in heat two and finished with a time of 51.98 seconds. Kirchgatter finished in 9th place and Blunt in 11th place.
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Ethan Kirchgatter had a full schedule at the state meet in Des Moines. He competed in the high jump, 200M dash, 400M dash, and was a member of the 4x400M relay team. EJ Photo/ Mike Byrnes
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rKirchgatter was the first boy to compete on Friday as well. He started the day in the high jump that started at 9:00 AM. His best jump was a leap of 5’11”, putting him in a four-way tie for 17th place.
Collin Kramer ran in the 110 meter hurdles on Friday morning. Kramer finished sixth in his heat and 18th overall in the 1A prelims with his time of 16.34 seconds.r